In motor vehicle construction, it is a well-established practice to produce interior trim component parts or outfitting members for the motor vehicle interior from a needlefelt material. The needlefelts or pilefelts used here, for example Ibolours® needlefelt, are based on a fibre web consisting of a mixture of various manufactured synthetic-polymer fibres, such as polyamide (PA) fibres, polyester (PES) fibres or polypropylene (PP) fibres. This fibre web is then consolidated in a conventional manner mechanically via needling and adhesively by bonding, optionally applied onto a base material, and, if desired, subjected to a thermoforming step or process in order to mould the needlefelt material thermoplastically into a trim component part or outfitting member. Nonetheless, there continues to be a need to improve such a motor vehicle interior trim material in relation to its range of possible uses and particularly in respect of its surface appearance. This applies particularly to needlefelt materials converted by a final thermoforming operation into their final state envisioned for further use.
A fibre web composite component part combining a mixed fibre web including thermoplastic fibres and higher-melting reinforcing fibres with at least one film laminate is known from WO 2004/098879 A1. The fibre web therein consists for example of polyamide (PA) thermoplastic fibres and polyester (PE) reinforcing fibres in a mixing ratio between 80:20 and 20:80. The fibre web is consolidated by needling. A thermoforming operation is used to mould the needled mixed fibre web into an automotive interior part.
A fibre web consisting of polyester bonding fibres and polyamide matrix fibres and used in the production of moulded parts for the interior outfitting of motor vehicles is also known from DE 100 07 556 A1. The needlefelt disclosed in this document has a mixing ratio of polyamide fibre to polyester fibre in the mixing range from 10:90 to 90:10, and also a needlefelt having a stitch density of 20 to 100 stitches/cm2. Furthermore, the polyester bonding fibres are processed in the crimped state and with fibre linear densities or a fineness of 1.7 to 17 dtex.
A needlefelt used for producing a floor part for motor vehicles is further known from DE 36 25 473 A1. This needlefelt may consist of a mixture of polyamide and polyester fibres which have a fineness of about 15 to 20 dtex, preferably of 17 dtex, and are needled into the needlefelt at a stitch density of 100 to 250 stitches/cm2. This needlefelt is moulded into a floor part.
DE 101 64 087 A1 discloses a decorative nonwoven formed by needling of fibres into a needlefelt at a stitch density of 400 to 1000 stitches/cm2 and which on its pile side has a pile height or fibre height of 1 to 6 mm.
An interior part of a motor vehicle is additionally known from DE 11 2012 005 205 B5. This interior part includes, as one ply, a carpet layer which consists of a needled fibre web and the hollow fibres of which may include polyamide fibres or polyester fibres. This needlefelt is then moulded together with other layered constituents into the interior part.